The Lheidli T'enneh First Nation community will have a new medical centre in the near future.
Dayi (Chief) Clay Pountney said the building has been a few years in the making, even before he was sworn in as Chief of the Lheidli T'enneh.
"I was on council when this was first kind of being thought of," he told PrinceGeorgeMatters.
"I was kind of a piece of it through the whole inception of the whole project so that's location, that's needs, uses, pretty much a bit of everything."
The project idea went out to the community after a concept was designed, which Pountney says went over well.
"It went out to the community," he said. "The community put its two cents in and said 'these are what we need for our area' so we've already begun with the staffing piece."
The staffing Pountney is referring to is the position of a full-time nurse already available.
Although the new building obviously isn't under construction, Pountney says they are using modulars as a designated medical centre until the new one is completed.
Alongside a full-time nurse, the community also has newer access to a home-care worker and mental health workers.
"A lot of the services are already starting up," he added. "We just want to put those [job positions] forward and get the 'bugs' worked out of them and then once this is built, it should hopefully be a nice transition."
"The goal in mind is the need for the community. We're learning too as we go because a health centre isn't just something you build in a day, so we need to look at community uses and the cultural piece. We also have to look at what kind of exam rooms we need and there is going to be an office space in there for shared use for telehealth that may be coming in as well."
They also hope to have a doctor who will be available to come to the community once a week.
"There's always someone out there who will be able to give medical attention if needed," Pountney added.
"There's so many pieces to it. It's a big resource. I think once it gets going, I think the community is going to be pretty happy because we have a lot of community members right now that don't even have a doctor so they're utilizing the services of the walk-in and emergency so it will be nice to have that [medical centre]."
The engineering company hired to do the building plans is David Nairne + Associates Ltd.
The centre will include:
- Community health and wellness lounge
- Lobby and gallery area
- Medical exam and treatment spaces
- Dental treatment room
- Administration spaces
- General support services
